


Colleague

by DynamicKea



Series: Partners AU [3]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: AU, Drowning, Explosions, Gen, Stonehold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 22:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3626466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DynamicKea/pseuds/DynamicKea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lalna should have known not to stay with dwarves for too long....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Colleague

‘It’s an easy job,’ the innkeeper had said.

The tavern wasn’t well lit. Built for dwarves, the “roof” was a few metres or so from the floor. Dwarven taverns, especially this tavern, didn’t cater very well for other beings. The usual patrons were probably dwarves, goblins, and maybe piglets. Humans generally weren’t allowed in. Then again, most humans weren’t allowed in Stonehold in the first place.

Then again, most humans weren’t absolute geniuses when it came to machinery.

Lalna had eyed him warily, slowly lowering his mug. ‘Sorry, wasn’t listening. What’s an easy job?’

From outside, well as outside as you could get in a deep cavern, came the sounds of the metal workers jeering at those that passed by.

The dwarven innkeeper leaned against his counter. He seemed to be judging Lalna, considering. ‘You weren’t listening? Hmph. Bleedin’ mercenaries... ya throw ‘em a bone and they use it to wipe their asses....’

‘Honestly, I thought you weren’t talking to me,’ Lalna said. 

One caterpillar eyebrow rose. ‘Who else would I be talkin’ to?’

The silent and vacant tavern glared at Lalna. Lalna wilted a bit into the floor he was sitting on. ‘Um. W-well, I didn’t think that-’

‘You thought that this lowly ‘ickle dwarf was blabbering to himself for the last minute?’ the innkeeper growled.

Lalna placed the mug onto the tavern counter. ‘What job was this?’

There came an abrupt snort from in front of Lalna. ‘Bleedin’ humans...’ the innkeeper muttered. The word “humans” was spat out with surprising amounts of vinegar. Or it would have been surprising, if Lalna hadn’t been in Stonehold for this long. ‘Not sure if I want to tell ya now....’

‘I’m all ears,’ Lalna said.

The innkeeper remained silent. Outside the metalworkers had resumed their work, hammers slamming against softened steel. After a minute, during which Lalna finished his mug, Lalna rolled his eyes and placed a golden quarter moon on the bench.

At the dwarf’s grin, Lalna struggled to not roll his eyes. Why couldn’t dwarves use chips and planes like every other being on the continent?

Testing the coin against the bench, the innkeeper began to speak.

Now, Lalna was here. He was standing, right next to the cold rain, hating that innkeeper’s guts.

 _‘Some folk’s down by Water’s Gate are rowin’ in,’_ the innkeeper had said. _‘Word is they’ll pay ten gibbous Aureus to someone that’ll help them with cargo.’_

 

Water’s Gate was, pretty simply, a gate around the largest river that flowed into Stonehold. More complicatedly, it was one of the only ways for any water or boats to enter Stonehold. Upriver were several towns that used the river to cart goods around. On occasion, ships travelled downriver and asked to pass through Stonehold to the river towns further downstream. Most of the time, the answer was “no,” and then the ships would need to struggle back upstream.

It wasn’t a nice place to wait around. The surrounding cave walls seemed to have some natural obligation to constantly drip water across the cave mouth.

Years and years ago, the dwarfs had first hollowed out Stonehold. The massive cave system was a mix between natural and dwarf made. Iron pillars screwed into the roof among the sandpapered stalactites. Mossy and rickety wooden walkways lined the edges of the water, hugging against the edge of the almost natural cave. Some of these walkways launched into bridges that hung from the roof that again were adjusted perfectly for the average dwarf.

Torchlight twinkled against the rain muddied water. The water was whipping violently down the channel through Stonehold. Thankfully those ancient dwarf constructors had noticed the rage water had in grim weather and had directed the river to sturdy tunnels far away from any perishables.

Unfortunately, they had utterly failed in the “warmth and dryness” factors.

A soft, sad _cluck_ rose from in the crate Lalna had found. Between his legs, a white feathered head poked out.

‘Sorry, Clucky. Just a few more minutes, then we’ll go back to the inn,’ Lalna said.

The disapproving glare he received was icier than a glacier. With a prim toss of her head, Clucky returned to shivering under Lalna’s temporary seat.

Across the river, Lalna could hear the hearty laughter of the Gate’s watch. It was thankfully slightly faded from the distance between the two “shores.” The sound was still irking.

Clucky’s head drew out of the crate again. She looked like she was frowning at him.

‘Alright, alright.’ Lalna slid from the crate onto one knee. Clucky chirped, flapping her wings and tucking herself into Lalna’s arms. ‘Let’s go home. Rain must’ve spooked them.’

The first sign that everything had gone shit was Clucky going completely still.

A second later, the dwarfs had gone silent.

One voice rose above the others. ‘Who-’

At a detonation speed of almost seven thousand metres a second, the gate and the people around it were shredded. The shock wave folded through the air, crushing all whom were in its wake. The distorted sound and air slammed against the crate, flinging it and smashing it against the cave wall. Splinters were formed as the crate virtually disintegrated.

Flames were all that was left after the uncaring shock wave. The fire was pressing to where the grand gates had been, which in turn were starting to sink into the muddy river.

Howls from the explosion echoed seemingly continuously through the caverns. They kept bouncing and rebounding until it was like thousands of bombs had been let off. They died away as they fled further into Stonehold.

Then the screaming began.

 

Several hundred metres downstream, Lalna struggled to resurface. The water whipped tension split above him, and he struggled to suck in frozen air.

He was underwater again an instant later; limbs constantly twisted this way and that by the unruly current. Like magnets were pulling him, Lalna kept hauling upwards.

The second time he hit air, he managed to stay up longer and flood his lungs with air. 'Cluck-'

Under again. The mud stung at his eyes and swept between him and the surface. Each particle built an impenetrable wall between him and survival. Not one that Lalna could break or fix or even properly touch, no, he couldn't get out, he couldn't _breathe_.

Air like knifes tore at his throat. Lalna could see, through glimpses of struggling eyes, the cave walls racing past him. A flash of distant lights Lalna saw through one hole, a patrol rushing the opposite way the next. The water was loud in his ears, the sound of every molecule being flung against the walls. It was furious at its containment in this dwarven prison of stone, and during every storm it beat against the walls.

The water beat its walls with Lalna, one of the largest objects it had in its grasp.

It was more peaceful under the surface. It was quieter, only containing dull echoes of outer sound. But Lalna’s lungs would keep screaming, threatening to tear him apart in their efforts to rise.

Above was worse. Even as Lalna sucked up as much air as he could, water flipped daintily into his throat. He was gagging, feeling like he was to throw up from the water he swallowed.

White and red feathers burst into the air and circled above him.

_Good girl._

Lalna spat out some water and focused on Clucky. 'Find a place to lan-'

The water sucked him down. The caves were steeper now, the current forcing him further down, down, down.

_No!_

The almost smooth rock floor slammed against Lalna. The jolt sent a precious bubble of air shooting into the murky depths.

Lalna attempted to push away from the underbelly of the water. It was relentless. It kept him down, the weight of the river crashing over him. Lungs were dying. Eyes squeezed shut Lalna clawed upwards.

_Help...!_

Finally and almost inevitably, Lalna breathed. Water, ugly and thick poured inside him. It churned and ate at him, the pure pressure forcing his mouth further open.

Agony. His lungs felt like they were attempting to abandon ship through his nose. It felt like he was about to explode, just like the gate had.

Lalna couldn't feel anything beyond the cold, the pain, and the slowly creeping emptiness of unconsciousness.

Something grabbed his hair.

With the blank uncaring of the half consciousness, Lalna didn't struggle as he was hauled out of the water. Heaviness was all around him, in him. Then a wet _splat_ of a hard and numb surface slamming into him. Lalna couldn't breathe. He could feel the air. It was right by his lips but no matter how much he tried to breathe Lalna just couldn't....

 

Lalna’s eyes opened. He was in the open world now. There were trees around him, waving silently in the wind. Root gripped stones were all around him. The only sound Lalna could hear was his breaths, loud and echoing.

Above him, the dwarf lowered his hands. For a brief second Lalna thought his hands were glowing a bright blue, but dismissed it as a trick of the sunlight.

Lalna tried to speak, to do anything other than breathe. There seemed to be a crowd of dwarfs behind the first, and he disappeared into the crowd.

Another dwarf, larger than the first, spat out a string of gibberish. Lalna blinked, brain slowly analysing the words.

With a mighty _crack_ the dwarf slammed his staff next to Lalna’s ear.

'Upright, human!' he spat.

Lalna grunted, rubbing the side of his head. Frazzled senses squealed at him, panicking from the rush of motion and sound that had occurred near them. Sitting up, Lalna blinked dully at the dwarf.

The crowd of dwarfs recoiled almost as one. Angry mutters, both human and dwarfish reached Lalna.

_'He should have been left to drown.'_

_'Humans, we should never have let them in.'_

_'He's a good man? A good mercenary? Never heard of one!'_

_'Throw him back to the water!'_

Lalna shook his head, rapid blinks trying to remove the fogs of water from his mind. 'What hap-?'

This time, the dwarf slammed the stick into his skull. The black beard bobbed up and down as he growled. 'You destroyed Water's Gate!'

'What?!' Lalna managed to clamber to his feet. The crowd did not look happy. 'I didn't have anything to do with-'

The whipping stick cracked into Lalna’s knee.

'You destroyed Water's Gate! You murdered our brothers!'

_'Murderer!'_

_'Slit his ankles!'_

'I did not. I didn-'

The dwarf was ignoring Lalna now, and he turned to the collection of dwarves clustered between Lalna and the entry to Stonehold. 'He is a murderer! He deserves our judgement!'

'Right, this is getting crazy...' Lalna muttered. He began to step backwards into the forest.

The dwarf continued to rile up the crowd, not noticing that the subject of their rage was beginning to flee. He should really have looked behind him once or twice.

When Lalna slipped behind a tree, he quickly took stock. His sword was somewhere deep in the riverbed, along with the contents of his pockets. He had no money, nor any way to defend himself. On the bright side it seemed that whatever the dwarf had done to get the water out of Lalna’s lungs had also fixed his other injuries. That or Lalna had been amazing and managed to avoid getting himself badly hurt. Aww yeah.

'Right.' Lalna held out his arm. 'Looks like we're moving again.'

As he spoke, Clucky dropped from the tree and landed on his elbow. A frantic scramble later and she was secure in Lalna’s arms.

'Which way this time?' Lalna asked.

Clucky chirped softly. With a regal tilt of her head in the leftwards direction, she clicked her beak.

'Good way as any. Let's see if we can find an abandoned temple on the way.'

With the arguing crowd behind Lalna, he set off. Behind him the fortress mountain that was Stonehold stood, strong and proud. The river boiled. Other birds cheered. And all there was left was the road ahead, and the two of them walking.

+++

The sun was long past the horizon when Lalna stopped walking. Clucky had fallen asleep in his arms, the red under-feathers of her wings fluffed out. The trees were stooped protectively overhead, shielding the pair from the leftover spots of rain. Behind him, some hundred metres away was the river trailing downwards. Ahead was the lush forest, colours drifting from greens to blues as darkness shrouded the world.

Except for where Lalna was stood, a large branch gripped in his free hand. Right next to him was a sturdy campfire, its flames licking against a bundle of logs. The smell of burnt ash billowed into the air.

This fire was not why Lalna had stopped. He had stopped because there was a sword pointed at his nose.

‘...I come in peace?’ he ventured.

The other stared at him. They were a male dwarf, with a massive orange beard. Their ruby sword was clean, glinting in the firelight. Orange eyebrows furrowed.

And then he grinned. Lowering the sword, a hand was extended to Lalna. ‘Honeydew,’ he said gruffly.

Lalna glanced at his hands. One had Clucky, one had the branch. He dropped the branch and shook Honeydew’s hand. ‘Lalna,’ he responded. Then he nodded to the chicken. ‘And she’s Clucky.’

‘Clucky? That’s uh, a very nice name. Very original.’ At Lalna’s glare, Honeydew kept grinning, adding raised hands in a peace brokering gesture to his pose. ‘Alright, don’t get huffy. Only commenting after all. What are you doing out in the middle of the forest?’

‘Looking for a town.’

‘Oh. That might take a while, nearest is a bit beaten up.’

‘How far is it?’ Lalna said tiredly.

Honeydew hummed, spinning round and pointing in a seemingly random direction. ‘About three or four days walk that way, ish. You running from Stonehold?’

‘A bit,’ Lalna muttered.

With a chuckle, Honeydew gestured to the fire. ‘I’ve got some pork cooking up, and a few of m’ last Jaffa Cakes. Should be an interesting story.’

Lalna snorted. ‘Not really.’

‘Aw, come on. Only thing I’ll bite is the pork. Promise!’ As Lalna sat down, the dwarf looked an awful lot like Christmas had come early. ‘Oh, before I forget. Want a job?’

Midway through reaching for a proffered “Jaffa Cake,” Lalna froze. ‘What?’

The dwarf spoke slowly. ‘Do you want a job?’

‘I heard you! I just, do you make a habit of asking random people you bump into in the forest if they want jobs?’ Even while he spoke, Lalna’s eyes were scanning the campfire. Nothing that suggested hidden riches, just an ordinary sack leaning against a tree. ‘What exactly would you have me do?’

‘Ah, not sure yet. I’m setting up a factory a way a ways, but there’s a bunch of mobs hanging around the place. You could lift things for me; look scary while I do business, whack guys I don’t like over the head for me....’

‘Have you ever hired someone before?’

‘Nah, not legit. I’ve got money and supplies though.’

Lalna glanced down to the sleeping chicken. He then looked up, giving the dwarf a considering glance.

‘Give me a decent sword, and I’m in.’


End file.
